


The Cries of a Child

by YTETD



Category: Tokyo Ghoul, Tokyo Ghoul: Re - Fandom
Genre: Other, Tokyo Ghoul: re
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 15:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28762242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YTETD/pseuds/YTETD
Summary: As Haise Sasaki tries to sleep, he reflects on his place within the CCG and the world as a whole. Meanwhile, in the darkest corners of the investigator's mind, a child cries for something he's lost.
Relationships: Arima Kishou/Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise, Kaneki Ken | Sasaki Haise & Quinx Squad
Kudos: 19
Collections: Tokyo Ghoul Fics





	The Cries of a Child

It was just another restless night for Rank 1 Investigator Haise Sasaki. In the morning, he was due another sparring session with Arima Kishou - the  _ CCG’s Reaper _ himself - and that alone should’ve warranted any sleep he could get, but as Haise twisted and turned beneath the sheets of his bed, he could only feel discomfort. 

_ What an example I must be setting _ , he thought to himself as he lay on his back, staring up at the white ceiling.  _ All those times I’ve lectured the others on the importance of rest and a balanced diet _ .” He sighed aloud.  _ And here I am _ . 

Haise was amazing with food - or so he’d been told by many of his colleagues - but he’d never tasted any of it. For reasons unknown, his RC count was much higher than the rest of his Quinx squadmates, thus rendering him unable to consume more traditional food. His own meals were prepared especially for him; and while they were hardly anything gourmet-level in taste, they did provide the necessary nourishment for an investigator of the CCG to carry out his duty: to protect and serve the public from all ghoul-related threats.

But these little ironies only made Haise feel guiltier. He couldn’t help but consider himself unworthy - too inadequate to helm any squad within the CCG, let alone one as ambitious as the Quinx. 

And yet, the fact remained that Arima Kishou - arguably the most skilled combatant within the CCG and definitely among the most respected - had chosen him specifically.  _ Why _ ? The reason eluded his understanding completely, as did most everything else about the job. 

And about  _ himself _ , particularly. 

The Rank 1 Investigator was still no closer to finding out what exactly had happened in the 20th Ward those two years prior. It was implied in the reports that his name was among the mortally wounded - just barely saved by the CCG’s medical officers. But after that?  _ Nothing _ . He’d lost his memories as a result of his injuries and was informed of nothing else in regards to his former life. 

_ Where in Tokyo did he reside _ ?

_ Had he any friends out there concerned about him?  _

_ Had he been married _ ?  _ Any children, perhaps _ ? Haise chuckled. It was unlikely. 

But these were the questions that plagued his mind when he wasn’t working; and to these questions were the answers he  _ needed  _ to know, but remained too frightened to address. Because, in truth, Haise was content  _ where  _ he was - on  _ what  _ he was doing. Each and every day had purpose, but sometimes it just felt too simple - too  _ good  _ \- to be true. 

And it was this feeling that kept him up at night. 

It was this feeling that kept him from being truly happy. 

*

Shrouded in total darkness, Haise Sasaki heard crying, but he could only see so clearly through the dark fog. He carefully followed the black-white checkered floor beneath his feet - and it was as he started forward, the cries became louder and louder until he could finally make out the vague shape of a young boy with his hands over his eyes. 

For a brief moment, Haise could say nothing. He didn’t know  _ what  _ to say - or what to  _ do  _ \- and so he’d hoped for the boy to notice him. But he didn’t. 

“H-hey,” Haise said finally, stammering on the single word. The child looked up at him; he was a frail boy with innocent features and pitch-black hair that grew into proportions not unlike his own. “What’s wrong?”

The child’s eyes widened as he continued weeping. Haise knelt down in front of him. 

“Look at what you’ve done,” said a voice from behind where Haise was standing. Now emerging from the shadows, a black figure in a rather grotesque-looking mask that obscured his right eye. But in his left eye glowed a hellish red kakugan - the mark of  _ a ghoul _ . 

“Me?” Haise muttered, looking up at the masked man standing over him. “What’d I do?”

“You’ve taken something of his.” 

Haise turned back towards the boy. He’d stopped crying now, and had clutched a hold of Haise’s hand without him even noticing. 

“You  _ have  _ to give it back,” the child whimpered.

“I don’t understand,” Haise replied as softly and as sincerely as possible.

The masked man scoffed. “It doesn’t matter. You  _ will  _ give it back.”

“But I didn’t  _ take  _ anything,” Haise exclaimed. “I don’t know what you’re-”

The child tugged hard on Haise’s hand. “ _ Please _ . I don’t,” he gasped for air. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

“That’s just it though, isn’t it?” The masked man didn’t take his eyes off Haise. “People  _ always  _ seem to be getting hurt around you.”

The child was still shrieking. 

“Don’t worry, though. He can’t  _ take  _ it back from you - even if he wanted to.”

Haise could feel himself sweating.

“But sooner or later,” the masked man grumbled with a sinister confidence,

“You’ll give it to  _ one  _ of us. It isn’t yours, after all.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Haise yelled, his nervousness having finally peaked. “Who  _ are  _ you?!”

The masked man moved back into the shadows. “Be patient, Haise.” 

A violent chill rushed through Haise’s spine as he realised that the child, too, had disappeared from his sight. 

And from the dark, the voice returned just one last time. “I’ll be seeing you.”


End file.
